Heifer Retention Program in the Pantanal: a study with data envelopment analysis (DEA) and Malmquist index

Abstract

-The objective of this study was to propose Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) models and non-parametric Malmquist indexes to evaluate the efficiency of 11 livestock farms in the Pantanal region. These farms took out a loan from 'Fundo Constitucional de Financiamento do Centro-Oeste' -FCO (Constitutional Financial Fund for the Midwest), a line of credit for financing heifer retention. The beneficiaries were the farmers whose properties met the following conditions: farms located in the plain of Pantanal, with at least 50% of native pasture; farms that were part of managerial capacity building projects intended to ensure better management and animal performance indexes; and farms with pasture areas where the activity could potentially evolve. The management of the loan on 11 farms were studied in relation to the technology introduced in the period from 2004 to 2008. Five properties presented technical efficiency below 1, that is, the technical management efficiency with the objective to increase the cattle through heifer retention and the purchase of higher genetic quality heifers was not achieved. However, the index of technological progress was above 1 on all tested farms, which means that technology was in fact incorporated in all properties, which resulted in total factor productivity growth on all farms. The main objective was fully met, even on the technically inefficient farms.

Economic and socio-environmental performance assessment of beef cattle production systems: a data envelopment analysis (DEA) approach with weight restrictions

“…Two models were run (with six inputs and one output, and with three inputs and one output) and the efficiency results were analyzed based on the classical and inverted DEA frontiers, besides the value of the composite index that combines both results. Other examples of DEA use in Brazilian beef cattle production can be seen in Gomes et al (2012) and Abreu et al (2012). Some recent uses of DEA in agriculture as a whole may be found, for instance, in Aldanondo-Ochoa et al (2013), Bojnec and Latruffe (2013), Falavigna et al (2013), Novo et al (2013), andSánchez-Zamora et al (2014).…”

From Traditionally Extensive to Sustainably Intensive: A Review on the Path to a Sustainable and Inclusive Beef Farming in Brazil

“…However, this must come from the adoption of locally designed technologies for sustainable intensification (Abreu et al, 2018) [88] and should consider multiple socioeconomic aspects, as well as different environmental dimensions (Schulz et al, 2019) [85]. Various projects have been carried out in "real farming" systems to develop and promote the adoption of technologies and monitor animal, economic, and environmental outcomes (Abreu et al, 2012;Oliveira et al, 2014;Bergier et al, 2019;Nogueira et al, 2019;Rodrigues et al, 2019;Abreu et al, 2022) [85][86][87][88][89] to enable the sustainable intensification of cattle farming in the region. However, traditional methods of technology transfer have not been effective in increasing adoption, suggesting the need for new strategies to engage farmers locally.…”